diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/builder.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/builder.py
index 50e5f10c..157782d3 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/builder.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/builder.py
@@ -134,8 +134,7 @@ def init(self):
         old_url = self.config.confluence_server_url
         new_url = ConfluenceUtil.normalize_base_url(old_url)
         if old_url != new_url:
-            self.warn('normalizing confluence url from '
-                '{} to {} '.format(old_url, new_url))
+            self.warn(f'normalizing confluence url from {old_url} to {new_url}')
             self.config.confluence_server_url = new_url
 
         # detect if Confluence Cloud if using the Atlassian domain
@@ -611,7 +610,7 @@ def publish_asset(self, key, docname, output, type_, hash_):
                 self.state.register_upload_id(docname, page_id)
             else:
                 self.warn('cannot publish asset since publishing '
-                    'point cannot be found ({}): {}'.format(key, docname))
+                    f'point cannot be found ({key}): {docname}')
                 return
 
         attachment_id = None
@@ -1166,9 +1165,9 @@ def _parse_doctree_title(self, docname, doctree):
                 doctitle = f'autogen-{docname}'
                 if self.publish:
                     self.warn('document will be published using an '
-                        'generated title value: {}'.format(docname))
+                        f'generated title value: {docname}')
             elif self.publish:
                 self.warn('document will not be published since it '
-                    'has no title: {}'.format(docname))
+                    f'has no title: {docname}')
 
         return doctitle
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/cmd/report.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/cmd/report.py
index a19a32d7..952c52ec 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/cmd/report.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/cmd/report.py
@@ -182,9 +182,9 @@ def report_main(args_parser):
                     for o in root.findall('buildNumber'):
                         info += '     build: ' + o.text + '\n'
                 else:
-                    logger.error('bad response from server ({})'.format(
-                        rsp.status_code))
-                    info += f'   fetched: error ({rsp.status_code})\n'
+                    code = rsp.status_code
+                    logger.error(f'bad response from server ({code})')
+                    info += f'   fetched: error ({code})\n'
                     rv = 1
             except Exception:  # noqa: BLE001
                 sys.stdout.flush()
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/intersphinx.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/intersphinx.py
index fc85a915..e5300b29 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/intersphinx.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/intersphinx.py
@@ -34,13 +34,14 @@ def escape(string):
     inventory_db = builder.out_dir / INVENTORY_FILENAME
     with inventory_db.open('wb') as f:
         # header
-        f.write((
-            '# Sphinx inventory version 2\n'
-            '# Project: {}\n'
-            '# Version: {}\n'
-            '# The remainder of this file is compressed using zlib.\n'.format(
-                escape(builder.env.config.project),
-                escape(builder.env.config.version))).encode())
+        f.write(
+            (
+                '# Sphinx inventory version 2\n'
+                f'# Project: {escape(builder.env.config.project)}\n'
+                f'# Version: {escape(builder.env.config.version)}\n'
+                '# The remainder of this file is compressed using zlib.\n'
+            ).encode()
+        )
 
         # contents
         compressor = zlib.compressobj(9)
@@ -74,8 +75,7 @@ def escape(string):
                     uri += '#' + anchor
                 if dispname == name:
                     dispname = '-'
-                entry = ('%s %s:%s %s %s %s\n' %
-                         (name, domainname, typ, prio, uri, dispname))
+                entry = f'{name} {domainname}:{typ} {prio} {uri} {dispname}\n'
                 logger.verbose('(intersphinx) ' + entry.strip())
                 f.write(compressor.compress(entry.encode('utf-8')))
 
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/rest.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/rest.py
index 1b529299..9751c454 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/rest.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/rest.py
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def _wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
             if self.config.confluence_publish_delay:
                 delay = self.config.confluence_publish_delay
                 logger.verbose('user-set api delay set; '
-                               'waiting {} seconds...'.format(math.ceil(delay)))
+                               f'waiting {math.ceil(delay)} seconds...')
                 time.sleep(delay)
 
             # if confluence asked us to wait so many seconds before a next
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ def _wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
             if self.next_delay:
                 delay = self.next_delay
                 logger.verbose('rate-limit header detected; '
-                               'waiting {} seconds...'.format(math.ceil(delay)))
+                               f'waiting {math.ceil(delay)} seconds...')
                 time.sleep(delay)
                 self.next_delay = None
 
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ def _wrapper(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
                     # wait the calculated delay before retrying again
                     logger.warn('rate-limit response detected; '
-                                'waiting {} seconds...'.format(math.ceil(delay)))
+                                f'waiting {math.ceil(delay)} seconds...')
                     time.sleep(delay)
                     self.last_retry = delay
                     attempt += 1
@@ -373,8 +373,8 @@ def _process_request(self, method, path, *args, **kwargs):
                 # user once
                 if delay >= 60 and not self._reported_large_delay:
                     logger.warn('(warning) site has reported a long '
-                                'rate-limit delay ({} seconds)'.format(
-                                math.ceil(delay)))
+                                'rate-limit delay '
+                                f'({math.ceil(delay)} seconds)')
                     self._reported_large_delay = True
 
         # check if Confluence reports a `Deprecation` header in the response;
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/singlebuilder.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/singlebuilder.py
index b5b886d2..fa051537 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/singlebuilder.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/singlebuilder.py
@@ -59,8 +59,7 @@ def get_relative_uri(self, from_, to, typ=None):
 
     def get_target_uri(self, docname, typ=None):
         if docname in self.env.all_docs:
-            return '{}{}#{}'.format(
-                self.config.root_doc, self.link_suffix, docname)
+            return f'{self.config.root_doc}{self.link_suffix}#{docname}'
         else:
             return self.link_transform(docname)
 
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/state.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/state.py
index 5532d1af..979180bb 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/state.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/state.py
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ def register_title(docname, title, config):
         offset = 2
         while title.lower() in ConfluenceState.title2doc:
             if offset == 2:
+                docname2 = ConfluenceState.title2doc[title.lower()]
                 logger.warn('title conflict detected with '
-                    "'{}' and '{}'".format(
-                        ConfluenceState.title2doc[title.lower()], docname))
+                    f"'{docname2}' and '{docname}'")
 
             tail = f' ({offset}){base_tail}'
             if len(base_title) + len(tail) > try_max:
@@ -227,8 +227,8 @@ def _format_postfix(postfix, docname, config):
                 )
             except KeyError:
                 raise ConfluenceConfigError(
-                    "Configured confluence_publish_prefix '{postfix}' has an "
-                    "unknown template replacement.".format(postfix=postfix))
+                    f"Configured confluence_publish_prefix '{postfix}' has an "
+                    "unknown template replacement.")
         return postfix
 
     @staticmethod
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/storage/translator.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/storage/translator.py
index 7a42380f..50f2ddf0 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/storage/translator.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/storage/translator.py
@@ -101,9 +101,9 @@ def get_secnumber(self, node):
             if self.builder.name == 'singleconfluence':
                 docname = self._docnames[-1]
                 raw_anchor = node.parent['ids'][0]
-                anchorname = '{}/#{}'.format(docname, node.parent['ids'][0])
+                anchorname = f'{docname}/#{raw_anchor}'
                 if anchorname not in self.builder.secnumbers:
-                    anchorname = '%s/' % raw_anchor
+                    anchorname = f'{raw_anchor}/'
             else:
                 anchorname = '#' + node.parent['ids'][0]
                 if anchorname not in self.builder.secnumbers:
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ def visit_start_of_file(self, node):
         # an anchor point with the name matching the title (which allows the
         # fallback link to jump to the desired point in a document).
         if self.builder.name == 'singleconfluence':
-            doc_anchorname = '%s/' % node['docname']
+            doc_anchorname = node['docname'] + '/'
             doc_target = self.state.target(doc_anchorname)
             if not doc_target:
                 doc_id = node['docname']
@@ -276,7 +276,8 @@ def visit_paragraph(self, node):
         # on the paragraph since the v2 editor does not permit nesting
         # block elements for indentation
         if self.v2 and self._indent_level > 0:
-            style += 'margin-left: {}px;'.format(INDENT * self._indent_level)
+            offset = INDENT * self._indent_level
+            style += f'margin-left: {offset}px;'
 
         # MyST-Parser will inject text-align hints in the node's classes
         # attribute; if set, attempt to apply the style
@@ -430,14 +431,12 @@ def visit_enumerated_list(self, node):
             elif node['enumtype'] == 'arabic':
                 list_style_type = 'decimal'
             else:
-                self.warn(
-                    'unknown enumerated list type: {}'.format(node['enumtype']))
+                self.warn('unknown enumerated list type: ' + node['enumtype'])
 
         if list_style_type:
             if 'style' not in attribs:
                 attribs['style'] = ''
-            attribs['style'] = '{}list-style-type: {};'.format(
-                attribs['style'], list_style_type)
+            attribs['style'] += f'list-style-type: {list_style_type};'
 
         self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'ol', suffix=self.nl, **attribs))
         self.context.append(self._end_tag(node))
@@ -513,9 +512,9 @@ def visit_term(self, node):
             self.body.append(self.context.pop())  # dt/p
 
         if self.v2:
+            offset = INDENT * self._indent_level
             self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'p',
-                **{'style': 'margin-left: {}px;'.format(
-                    INDENT * self._indent_level)}))
+                **{'style': f'margin-left: {offset}px;'}))
             self.context.append(self._end_tag(node))
 
         if 'ids' in node:
@@ -1133,8 +1132,9 @@ def visit_tgroup(self, node):
                 # configuring it explicitly may break the editor's page
                 # width configuration
                 attribs = {}
-                if colspec['colwidth'] != 100 or not self.v2:
-                    attribs['style'] = 'width: {}%'.format(colspec['colwidth'])
+                colwidth = colspec['colwidth']
+                if colwidth != 100 or not self.v2:
+                    attribs['style'] = f'width: {colwidth}%'
 
                 self.body.append(self._start_tag(
                     node, 'col', empty=True, **attribs))
@@ -1296,7 +1296,7 @@ def _visit_reference_intern_id(self, node):
             docname = self._docnames[-1]
             anchorname = f'{docname}/#{raw_anchor}'
             if anchorname not in self.builder.secnumbers:
-                anchorname = '%s/' % raw_anchor
+                anchorname = f'{raw_anchor}/'
         else:
             anchorname = f'{self.docname}#{raw_anchor}'
 
@@ -1346,7 +1346,7 @@ def _visit_reference_intern_uri(self, node):
         doctitle = self.state.title(docname)
         if not doctitle:
             self.warn('unable to build link to document due to '
-                'missing title (in {}): {}'.format(self.docname, docname))
+                f'missing title (in {self.docname}): {docname}')
 
             # build a broken link
             self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'a', **{'href': '#'}))
@@ -1695,8 +1695,7 @@ def visit_caption(self, node):
 
         alignment = self._fetch_alignment(node)
         if alignment and alignment != 'left':
-            attribs['style'] = '{}text-align: {};'.format(
-                attribs['style'], alignment)
+            attribs['style'] += f'text-align: {alignment};'
 
         self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'p', **attribs))
         self.add_fignumber(node.parent)
@@ -1730,8 +1729,9 @@ def _visit_image(self, node, opts):
         # offset vertical image to align with paragraph
         if not self.v2 and node.get('from_math') and node.get('math_depth'):
             math_depth = node['math_depth']
+            offset = -1 * math_depth
             self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'span',
-                **{'style': 'vertical-align: {}px'.format(-1 * math_depth)}))
+                **{'style': f'vertical-align: {offset}px'}))
             self.context.append(self._end_tag(node))
 
         node.math_number = None
@@ -1888,8 +1888,8 @@ def depart_legend(self, node):
     # ------------------
 
     def visit_download_reference(self, node):
-        uri = node['reftarget']
-        uri = self.encode(uri)
+        reftarget = node['reftarget']
+        uri = self.encode(reftarget)
 
         if uri.find('://') != -1:
             self.body.append(self._start_tag(node, 'strong'))
@@ -1915,8 +1915,7 @@ def visit_download_reference(self, node):
                         node, asset_docname, standalone=True)
 
             if not file_key:
-                self.warn('unable to find download: ' '{}'.format(
-                    node['reftarget']))
+                self.warn(f'unable to find download: {reftarget}')
                 raise nodes.SkipNode
 
             hosting_doctitle = self.state.title(hosting_docname)
@@ -2065,7 +2064,8 @@ def visit_productionlist(self, node):
                 self.body.append(f'{formatted_token} ::=')
                 lastname = production['tokenname']
             else:
-                self.body.append('{}    '.format(' ' * len(lastname)))
+                prefix = ' ' * len(lastname)
+                self.body.append(f'{prefix}    ')
             text = production.astext()
             text = self.encode(text)
             self.body.append(text + self.nl)
@@ -2263,8 +2263,7 @@ def visit_versionmodified(self, node):
         elif node['type'] == 'versionadded':
             self._visit_info(node)
         else:
-            self.warn('unsupported version modification type: '
-                '{}'.format(node['type']))
+            self.warn('unsupported version modification type: ' + node['type'])
             self._visit_info(node)
 
     depart_versionmodified = _depart_admonition
@@ -2297,7 +2296,7 @@ def visit_confluence_excerpt_include(self, node):
             if not doctitle:
                 self.warn('unable to build excerpt include to document since '
                     'document is missing or is missing title '
-                    '(in {}): {}'.format(self.docname, docname))
+                    f'(in {self.docname}): {docname}')
                 raise nodes.SkipNode
         elif ':' in doclink:
             space_key, doctitle = doclink.split(':', 1)
@@ -2542,7 +2541,7 @@ def visit_confluence_doc_card(self, node):
             self.body.append(self._end_tag(node, suffix=''))
         else:
             self.warn('unable to build link to document card due to '
-                'missing title (in {}): {}'.format(self.docname, docname))
+                f'missing title (in {self.docname}): {docname}')
             self.body.append(node.astext())
 
         if not self.v2:
@@ -2567,7 +2566,7 @@ def visit_confluence_doc_card_inline(self, node):
             self.body.append(self._end_ac_link(node))
         else:
             self.warn('unable to build link to document card due to '
-                'missing title (in {}): {}'.format(self.docname, docname))
+                f'missing title (in {self.docname}): {docname}')
             self.body.append(node.astext())
 
         raise nodes.SkipNode
@@ -3038,7 +3037,8 @@ def visit_line_block(self, node):
             style += f'margin-left: {indent}px;'
         elif self.v2:
             # (see "visit_paragraph")
-            style += 'margin-left: {}px;'.format(INDENT * self._indent_level)
+            offset = INDENT * self._indent_level
+            style += f'margin-left: {offset}px;'
 
         if style:
             attribs['style'] = style
@@ -3163,7 +3163,8 @@ def _start_tag(self, node, tag, suffix=None, empty=False, **kwargs):
             except AttributeError:
                 node.__confluence_tag = [tag]
 
-        return '<{}{}'.format(' '.join(data), suffix)
+        prefix = ' '.join(data)
+        return f'<{prefix}{suffix}'
 
     def _end_tag(self, node, suffix=None):
         """
diff --git a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/transmute/__init__.py b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/transmute/__init__.py
index 018d6c1c..eed60183 100644
--- a/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/transmute/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinxcontrib/confluencebuilder/transmute/__init__.py
@@ -147,9 +147,8 @@ def __init__(self, builder):
                 if 'ids' in new_node:
                     math_image_ids.extend(new_node['ids'])
 
-        except imgmath.MathExtError as exc:
-            ConfluenceLogger.warn('inline latex {}: {}'.format(
-                node.astext(), exc))
+        except imgmath.MathExtError as ex:
+            ConfluenceLogger.warn(f'inline latex {node.astext()}: {ex}')
 
     # v2 editor will manually inject anchors in an image-managed
     # section to avoid a newline spacing between the anchor and
@@ -215,8 +214,9 @@ def __init__(self, builder):
     mock_translator = MockTranslator(builder)
 
     for node in findall(doctree, graphviz):
+        node_code = node['code']
         try:
-            _, out_filename = render_dot(mock_translator, node['code'],
+            _, out_filename = render_dot(mock_translator, node_code,
                 node['options'], builder.graphviz_output_format, 'graphviz')
             if not out_filename:
                 node.parent.remove(node)
@@ -226,8 +226,8 @@ def __init__(self, builder):
             if 'align' in node:
                 new_node['align'] = node['align']
             node.replace_self(new_node)
-        except GraphvizError as exc:
-            ConfluenceLogger.warn('dot code {}: {}'.format(node['code'], exc))
+        except GraphvizError as ex:
+            ConfluenceLogger.warn(f'dot code {node_code}: {ex}')
             node.parent.remove(node)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/__main__.py b/tests/__main__.py
index f75136a4..591ffeab 100644
--- a/tests/__main__.py
+++ b/tests/__main__.py
@@ -71,14 +71,14 @@ def main():
             target_unit_test_name_pattern)
         if not target_unit_tests:
             print('\nERROR: unable to find test with pattern: '
-                '{}\n'.format(target_unit_test_name_pattern))
+                f'{target_unit_test_name_pattern}\n')
             if issued:
                 issued[0].debug()
             sys.exit(1)
 
+        total_tests = len(target_unit_tests)
         print('')
-        print('running specific test(s) (total: {})'.format(
-            len(target_unit_tests)))
+        print(f'running specific test(s) (total: {total_tests})')
         for target_unit_test in target_unit_tests:
             print(f' {target_unit_test.id()}')
         print('')
diff --git a/tests/lib/__init__.py b/tests/lib/__init__.py
index f6d75605..0d064e89 100644
--- a/tests/lib/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/lib/__init__.py
@@ -74,16 +74,16 @@ def check_unhandled_requests(self):
 
         with self.mtx:
             if self.del_req or self.get_req or self.put_req:
-                raise Exception('''unhandled requests detected
+                raise Exception(f'''unhandled requests detected
 
 (get requests)
-{}
+{self.get_req}
 
 (put requests)
-{}
+{self.put_req}
 
 (del requests)
-{}'''.format(self.get_req, self.put_req, self.del_req))
+{self.del_req}''')
 
     def pop_delete_request(self):
         """
diff --git a/tests/test_validation.py b/tests/test_validation.py
index bb562e3f..8655be60 100644
--- a/tests/test_validation.py
+++ b/tests/test_validation.py
@@ -88,10 +88,10 @@ def setUpClass(cls):
         cls.config['confluence_publish_postfix'] = ''
         cls.config['confluence_cleanup_archive'] = False
         cls.config['confluence_sourcelink']['version'] = cls.test_version
-        cls.config['rst_epilog'] = """
-.. |test_key| replace:: {}
-.. |test_desc| replace:: {}
-""".format(cls.test_key, cls.test_desc)
+        cls.config['rst_epilog'] = f'''
+.. |test_key| replace:: {cls.test_key}
+.. |test_desc| replace:: {cls.test_desc}
+'''
 
         # find validate-sets base folder
         test_dir = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
diff --git a/tests/unit-tests/test_config_postfix_formatting.py b/tests/unit-tests/test_config_postfix_formatting.py
index 997a489b..a83dbee7 100644
--- a/tests/unit-tests/test_config_postfix_formatting.py
+++ b/tests/unit-tests/test_config_postfix_formatting.py
@@ -88,8 +88,7 @@ def test_placeholder_with_format_type(self):
         postfix = ConfluenceState._format_postfix(
             postfix=confluence_publish_prefix, docname=test_docname,
             config=config)
-        self.assertEqual(postfix, '- ({hash})'.format(
-            hash=self.test_hash[0:10]))
+        self.assertEqual(postfix, f'- ({self.test_hash[0:10]})')
 
 
 class TestRegisterTitle(ConfluenceTestCase):
diff --git a/tests/unit-tests/test_sphinx_image_candidate.py b/tests/unit-tests/test_sphinx_image_candidate.py
index 356d19f4..d1986620 100644
--- a/tests/unit-tests/test_sphinx_image_candidate.py
+++ b/tests/unit-tests/test_sphinx_image_candidate.py
@@ -26,8 +26,7 @@ def test_storage_sphinx_image_candidate(self):
 
             self.assertIsNotNone(ext)
 
-            pyver = 'py{}{}'.format(sys.version_info.major,
-                sys.version_info.minor)
+            pyver = f'py{sys.version_info.major}{sys.version_info.minor}'
             doc_dir = prepare_dirs(postfix=f'-{pyver}-docs-{ext[1:]}')
             out_dir = prepare_dirs(postfix=f'-{pyver}-out-{ext[1:]}')